Key Drivers of Success
February 10, 2009
Warning! Unless, you are still in the rat race of life, this piece is not for you. And you should therefore, not bother to read it. In other words, it is not a piece for those already in the upwardly mobile class nor sophisticated executive let alone, the successful politician. No! They already know more than enough of the demands of success; and for sure, I am not about to start carrying coal to new castle.
This is about us and for us. I mean the jobless, the gainfully and not so gainfully employed, the self employed and the ambitious. It also includes some of the religious leaders. Just anyone who believes he is not yet where you ought to be––the upper strata.
Success is a product of three interwoven factors. And of which the absence of one or more, in the activities and striving of any individual or group, results in failure with the attendant frustration, Disenchantment, disillusionment and some times, neurasthenic outburst against the nearest person(s) and other like manifestations. And these success drivers include the right plan, the right people and the right place.
The right Plan is the foundation of any worthwhile human endeavour. Simply put, it is, the skeleton without which, neither flesh or life can be manifested. And consequently, the most complex task towards the achievement of any objective. For this reason, it is not a tea party to the brilliant and deliberate and without meaning to and not even knowing it, a “no go area” for the less brilliant.
Many people go through life not really knowing what to plan for or against; and even when they have been guided into identifying a worthy enterprise, still do not know where or how to start turning such identified goal(s) into reality.
But the truth is that unless you want to wander aimlessly in the wilderness of life never arriving; then you must plan. If you find it difficult identifying what to focus on, I advice you engage your fantasies. Yes. I mean just that! Fantasy only becomes bad when you never snap out of it otherwise, properly canalised; it can set you among the class of visionaries.
Know this, it is your dreams that you speedily achieve in fantasy and if can stop and ask yourself how that can also be achieved in the real world, you will somehow, develop an action plan towards doing just that. For instance, if you fantasize about your addressing a large congregation as a public speaker, it would do no harm to rather than continue, stop the fantasy and start enquiring about how to become one and immediately, setting in motion, the task of implementing your findings starting with small groups. You certainly must perform woefully at the initial stage but declare in your heart that you are a speaker and before long, you will become one. Remember, what you declare is what you are.
The right people: We cannot all always be leaders in our society or association but one area where we can and should be leaders and remain so till the end of our life, is in the area of picking those who we allow to influence our thought and consequently, our life. Input will always determine the output. A former Nigerian leader once stated in an interview that he never considers cost where the attraction of the right kind of persons was concerned. If that is true for him, it should be the gospel for the rest of us. Know that while it might be true for unlike charges in metals to attract, in chemicals, it is totally different—they try to cancel out each. Attract unlike minded people only for those negatives—be sure they are negatives, which you wish to do away with
The people who you are to attract are not just those who are capable of debating your strategies but should include guinea pigs but, distribute your respect equally amongst all of them—for what they are adding and making you to subtract from your life. Remember, mother Theresa became a world acknowledged personality by identifying with those beneath her—the poor.
The right place: the concept of place before the current computer age use to be synonymous with physical presence in a location—like clubs, church society, social groups or travelling out the shores of ones country depending on the kind of people you are interested in--where there is a high probability of opportunity springing forth. Not anymore. Today, you can sit in the comfort of your home and meet more persons than you will ever need in a life time through social networks and more.
This is not in any way, discounting the effect of the physical environment and the make of our neighbours on our person and determination to achieve our dreams and conduct. I strongly believe that if you move some poor folks to VGC in Nigeria, they will turn for the better within years.